In a Glass Cage – DVD Review

The Flick:

In a Glass Cage is a 1987 Spanish art house horror film written and directed by Agustí Villaronga and starring Günter Meisner, Marisa Paredes and David Sust. The plot follows an ex-Nazi sadistic child abuser who is now paralyzed and depending on an iron lung to live. A young man who comes to nurse him was one of his former victims years before. The film was inspired by the history of Gilles de Rais. With its theme mixing Nazism, pedophilia, torture and homosexuality, the film is highly controversial.

In a Glass Cage opens with Klaus, a former Nazi German doctor who practiced horrific experiments with children during World War II, has continued with his sick attraction for torturing and killing young boys during his exile in a remote village in Catalonia. He’s writing in his journal while a young boy is chained up in the background. Klaus walks over to the boy takes some pictures, looks at him with desire and starts beating him with a board of wood until he kills him. There’s a hint that someone is watching from a window outside but they never show the face of who it is. Klaus decides to leave the basement and walk up to the tower. While he leaves the person from outside comes in and takes his journal. Once Klaus is on the tower he jumps trying to commit suicide, but he survives. As a result of his failed attempt he is now unable to breathe on his own, confined to a glass cage, immobile and depending on an iron lung to live.

Some years go by and we are rejoined with Klaus who is being cared for by his wife Griselda and daughter Rena in a large house in the country. Griselda is miserable, secretly wishing that her husband would die because she’s overwhelmed and tired of taking care of him. That night a young man with a large scar on his face, Angelo breaks into the house and offers to be Klaus’ nurse. Griselda isn’t fond of this idea but Klaus insists even though Angelo has no nursing experience. We soon find out that Angelo was one of Klaus’ victims and they had a sickening, sadomasochistic relationship but Klaus still doesn’t realize that Angelo is one of his victims. It’s also reveled that Angelo was the one at the abandon building that day when Klaus attempted suicide because he has Klaus’ journal. Angelo realizes that Klaus can’t torture and kill anymore, but he can. His goal is to bring home little boys and kill them in front of Klaus so they both can enjoy it. Angelo can see that Griselda is going to get in the way of his master plan so he kills her. The following day, Angelo fires the housekeeper and starts taking over the house with Rena’s help.

Rena seems to adapt very quickly to her mother’s absence and feels more comfortable under Angelo’s care. At one point, she even starts calling him Dad. Angelo proceeds to continue with the doctor’s experiments, delivering young boys next to Klaus’ glass cage. He ties one boy to a chair and injects him in the heart with a needle filled with gasoline, killing him. A second boy is brought in and Angelo forces him to sing then kills him by cutting his throat. Fearing that Angelo is out of control and that his life and Rena’s are in danger, Klaus tells his daughter to run away to the near village with a message asking for help. Angelo catches Rena while she is trying to escape and brings her back to the house. He dominates her through terror and violence. Finally Angelo removes Klaus from his iron lung to die by asphyxiation while reenacting the abuse that Klaus inflicted on him, in Rena’s presence. Once Klaus is dead, Angelo takes his identity by putting on Klaus clothes and immerses himself into the artificial lung, and makes Rena take on his identity.

Conclusion:

This flick was truly disturbing and even though my review might seem a bit graphic, I left out some really shocking scenes. Although, I really didn’t care for this flick, I have to admit that it was traumatizing and shocking. I was queasy for two days after I watched it. When you watch that first scene with Klaus, you want him to suffer and die for experimenting on innocent children. Then Angelo comes along and evolves into “Klaus Jr.”, even though he was one of his victims. You actually watch Angelo’s mind break slowly as he starts to take on Klaus personality. My heart went out to Rena, I wanted someone to come and rescue her. In a really fucked up way this film is a disturbing masterpiece. So in a very confusing way, I’m torn. It’s disturbing in how it throws Nazism, pedophilia, torture and homosexuality in your face. On the other hand, I can see how this film is controversial and it packs a punch visually. Although, I will say this: I’ll never forget this movie, no matter how much I want to. So, I would have to advise that you watch this at your own risk!

The DVD:

Audio/Visual

The audio is clear and it only has one language option, Spanish with English subtitles. However the visuals are beautiful despite the graphic and disturbing imagery.

Special Features

Disc 1: The Feature (New, restored High-Definition Transfer). Along with the trailer.

Disc 2: Featurette: Agusti Villaronga (2011), Q&A with Agusti Villaronga (2010) Along with three short films; Anta Mujer (1976), Laberint (1980), and Al Mayurca (1980).

The Flick Rating:

The DVD Rating: